UEAKCrash

A far too in depth look at the tiniest change

If you were involved in the most recent tests of the Trainsawlaser update, you may have heard me mentioning that the jump on the horizontal saws by mid felt different to me. I was dying while trying to jump off of it more than normal. Something about it changed, but I wasn't sure what yet. Asking void, he did say he moved it slightly to center it better on the wall, so I figured that had to be it.

When I finally looked into it, it was a hilariously small difference.

So ...

The Big Secret Project

Okay... this one is hopefully dropping soon, and partially the reason I haven't plugged a ton in here lately. This project has been in the works for awhile, and after this past weekends secret test, we're getting ready for release.

Introducing... Trainsawlaser.

Yes, after 13 years, we're doing it. Trainsawlaser is being reborn into a fully polished, fully detailed, ready for Scream Fortress map. I've been lucky to bring on Void, known for Boardwalk, Mannhole, Megaton, Atom Smash...

Secret map test this weekend...

I've got a project in the works that is coming to fruition, and we're hoping to go live with it very soon. But, we need a quick test for some footage/ general testing before then. Sometime this weekend we'll be announcing a private passworded test on my server. Make sure you're in the discord and keep an eye out in the cool_nerds_club channel for more info. :)

Psst check this out

Here's a sneak peak at something coming to Requiem tomorrow night...

Also, you might notice YET ANOTHER complete remake of the map. PD is hard.

lol, lmao, even.

Requiem Redo... again!

My map Requiem has proved to be a tough layout to crack, so I took it back to the drawing board, again, again, and simplified and minimized as much as I could. Just about everything is brand new except for the underworld, stage, and the little spawn courtyard building I've been fascinated with (last picture)

Hopefully things are a little better with this version, although I can see how it's a little corridor-y in places, so that might take some cleaning up. The goal is definitely to tr...

Patreon only video changelog-ish thing!

I'm trying something new to give you nerds a little more value. I greatly appreciate everyone's support here, it means a ton to me, so I hate to leave things quiet for too long. Let me know if you like this format!

Also to complete the thought I got distracted from in the video, the "nerd catcher" slide out piece comes out when Blu captures the third point, to help catch them coming from their forward spawn at the top, to reduce the risk of falling down to the lowest level, which will ...

Requiem

I'm still working on this one, as well! Here's some quick screenshots of the next version. The big changes are finally getting the night time skybox in place and fixing all the lighting for that, but I also removed the lowest level to try to refine the gameplay to a smaller space, and removed the glass from the big window facing the stage. I still have a feeling I'll need to redo a lot of this map, but I wanted to give things another test before committing to it.

I definitely think the...

Blocked Progress!

Sorry I've been a little quiet, we are definitely starting to enter grind mode on Blocked, and we're going to try to maintain a playable version every week as we progress with the detailing pass! There's still some gameplay elements we're working on modifying (primarily around the elevator), but we're starting to lock in some spaces that we feel confident about.

We're sort of in the initial phase of just throwing around different materials and coming up with our palette for the maps lo...

More on that Halloween Project...

I've been hammering (heh) away on the Underworld portion of my new project, trying to scramble to get it ready in time for its first test this week. It's going to be close, but I think the layout is all there. Now I need to implement all the logic, clip off the underworld, and I thiiiiink it'll be good to go!

Just a quick update today, I just thought the underworld was neat looking and wanted to share my progress

Let's talk Halloween...

So, I've got two projects in the works for this years Halloween, one of which I'm going to start talking about now, the other maybe in the near future. (It's quite the plan, though...)

So this is the very very early block a1 block out for pd_requiem, code named headbang at the moment. This is the first time I've really worked on a PD map since Tribute, which was forever ago, so it's taken me a bit longer to block out than I would have liked. PD is weird.

The general theme is goi...

Blocked

So, now that my brief winter break is over, it's time to get back on the grind...

We're back on Blocked! This project was started last year for the TF2Maps Stack the Deck contest, which we ultimately abandoned because we didn't want to rush it, and we've put a ton of testing into it, but Pear and I were just feeling like things weren't playing quite how we wanted them to, so it was time to do a very massive overhaul to the map.

Pear took the reins a bit on the gameplay side to c...

Some more WIP

Yoooo, long time no chat...

Gavle didn't get in this winter (sad trombone) but that gives me the chance to keep cooking on it a little longer, including finally implementing the 3d skybox we've been cooking! Everything in the screenshots is still WIP, but we're getting there with it, just needs a tiny bit more polish.

Going forward, I'm planning on chipping away more on Gavle for next year, but Blocked is my #1 priority next, and we should have a big update to that soon!

I...

Bocken Brinner!

So we just got the burned goat asset put together and I had to show it off early! The goat was modeled by Tianes and textured by blaholtzen. The firey version will be used in game for the finale, whereas the charred version may end up used for more promos.

We're working on the finale as we speak, should be implemented soon!

Gavle Custom Payload Cart!

Kaboom!

The map is coming along nicely, as of now we're looking like we'll do a soft launch tomorrow (Friday) during my usual test night, and go fully live Saturday on the workshop! But first, I wanted to show off our new custom payload cart, modeled by FGD5 and textured by Blaholtzen!

Even more WIP Gavle!

Finally got some in game shots of the map, as we're mostly ready to compile! We're cutting it close (as always) but we're hoping to release sometime by the end of this week. The grind has been intense, but we're very close! The custom payload cart is complete, the finale goat is modeled and currently getting textured, and we've got a pile of other little models in the works, as well as the finale particle effect to finally BURN THE GAVLEBOCKEN!

The shots have some notable issues (like ...

More Gavle WIP!

Here's where we currently stand with Gavle! Things are coming along nicely, and work is just starting on the last stage. We're going to be definitely cutting it close for release, ideally late next week if possible, or early the following, but I'm super proud of where it stands right now!

A custom payload cart is currently getting finished up, and the mighty Gavlebocken itself is being worked on, with a killer finale sequence in the works.

Gavle Detailing WIP

Here's how far stage one is at the moment, all work in progress, but coming along nicely! Pear has been absolutely going nuts on it, so we should have a lot more progress to show soon!

Lighting is all temporary, and everything is subject to tweaking. But I'm extremely happy with where it's at currently!

What's up

Yo! Sorry for going quiet there a bit, as you are probably aware, Sewer did not get in the recent Scream Fortress update, which was a bummer, but honestly it gives us a little more time to implement some stuff we missed out on doing for next year! I attached a fun little WIP video of some roaches we had in development that were going to get scattered around the map, but got cut for time.

So, that said, where am I going next? Gavle is definitely the clear next big project, which we're s...

Different kind of spoiler...

I know most of you are here for the mapping stuff, but here's my bands next album cover, finalized literally minutes ago, and getting sent off for production shortly. We're hoping to have the album out by the end of October, so it'll be coming up soon!

We're doing a vinyl production run of this, and the first track takes up the entire side A of it, which is fun!

Sewer update!

Sorry for the radio silence for a bit here, I've been busy being a dad and working on some of my other various side hustles, working on music, and just in general trying to enjoy my summer! I know it's not why most of you are likely here, but I'll likely share some music WIPs here soon, as our next Bog Wizard album is nearing completion!

Anyway, what you're really here for...

Check out these WIP shots of Sewer! Sewer is currently being artpassed by the endlessly talented Void, w...

Upcoming stuff

Sorry for being so quiet, I'm at a little bit of a lull mapping wise before things really start taking off again. But let's talk about some of my upcoming stuff real quick.

First, Blocked is coming along nicely, but we're thinking about giving last a bit of an overhaul still. Hopefully we'll be able to start detailing shortly after, though!

Next, Gavle, my big winter project for the year, is nearing gameplay final state, I've been working on combining the stages, although the lo...

Some more final Gavle stage 2!

I've been continuing to grind away on Gavle's second stage, and we're near completion, finally! Looking like it should be good to go for tomorrow's playtest!

I took way longer than I would have liked, but I also made almost the entirety of Blocked and iterated it a bunch in between, haha. I've overthought just about every single wall, room, and the general flow, I'm definitely struggling to just crank out a layout like I used to (I can't even comprehend doing a 72hr map these days) but...

Gavle Stage 2

So this has been coming for awhile now. I've been slowly chipping away at remaking Gavle's stage 2 and it's getting near completion, finally! Similar layout to the previous version, but everything scaled back, one less capture point, and an entirely new/ reimagined last. There's still some work to be done, a few routing things around last and the second to last point, as well as wrangling a forward spawn for red in there somewhere, plus of course sealing and clipping the map, but we're very c...

New Finale WIP

Been a little quiet here because I've been more public about my active projects lately, so here's a snippet of some logic I'm playing with for the finale of another map.

The map is cp_sandswept by Hey You. He asked me to come up with some logic to drop something into the grinder on last, which is currently getting polished for a full release before this summer! The barrel is, of course, not final, I just wanted to get the logic in place to do the drop.

Details for the ...

New new new new project

You may recall Blocked from before, and all the relevant info I dumped before about it, well we decided to remake the map from scratch for the new TF2Maps contest, and honestly I'm already way happier with this opening area than the previous iteration.

I'm also going to be a bit more public with the progress of this one for a change of pace. Figured I'd try that out.

Working on a new layout

I've got a bunch of maps I've been behind on working on, here's one coming along well and possibly will be tested this week! The working title is currently Sewer, it's a stock koth map (at the moment) with some fun twists planned for the future (think Halloween)

The initial blockout is pretty much there, just needs sealing and some small logic things thrown in. It's nice to work on a smaller scale than my big payload projects.

🔥

Buuuuuurn

Stage 2 of Gavle has been blocked out. I'm not 100% confident in it, especially last, BUT, I don't want to change too much before testing so we're going to go as-is!

Payload is in place, clipping is in place, I'm currently finalizing spawns and other dynamic parts of the map. If everything works out, we'll be testing Stage 2 this Friday!

BRUSH GOAT

BRUSH GOAT BRUSH GOAT BRUSH GOAT BRUSH GOAT BRUSH GOAT

Gavle Stage 2 Progress

VERY VERY WIP, but here's what I've been working on this last week, I think it's starting to look pretty cool. Mostly just focused on the opening area at the moment, but I'm almost to the first capture point, of an intended three total.

Gavle update

Holidays got in the way a bit, but I'm back on the grind of Gavle!

I'm super hyped with the last test we held, after adjusting spawn timers and limiting red's routes out of second, I think the map is in a pretty good place.

One big change for next version is that I created these custom flat team colored materials so I can keep doing my *smooth* flat brain-appeasing look, but now with some more hints on what territory you are in for each side. I think it'll help the flow a bit an...